The 145-pound throne is vacant.
It was confirmed by UFC president Dana White late on Wednesday that Ilia Topuria has relinquished his featherweight title, with the Georgian-Spaniard fighter expected to move to lightweight ahead of a rumoured fight with 155-pound champion Islam Makhachev later this year — though this has yet to be confirmed by UFC brass.
White also confirmed that former champion Alexander Volkanovski will fight top contender Diego Lopes for the featherweight championship in the UFC 314 main event on April 12.
Australia’s Volkanovski is a former longtime featherweight champion but was defeated by Topuria for the title a year ago. Topuria would defend the belt against Max Holloway last October, defeating the Hawaiian veteran by third-round KO.
Lopes, meanwhile, has emerged as a significant threat at featherweight, particularly amid a five-fight run of wins which has seen the 30-year-old defeat the likes of Brian Ortega and Dan Ige since losing his UFC debut to the unbeaten Mosvar Evloev.
It was also confirmed by White that Paddy Pimblett will fight Michael Chandler in the UFC 314 co-main event in a five-round bout, while the longtime Bellator veteran Patricio Pitbull will make his UFC debut against Mexico’s Yair Rodriguez.
